Katherine Christensen
Even if someone is not personally a fan of his music, most of us are familiar with Harry Styles. When his name comes to mind, many of us think of the ways in which he has pushed the boundaries when it comes to fashion. Harry Styles has had the most popular solo career of all the One Direction members, so we often see him pop up in today’s popular media. This exposure has given him the opportunity to perform in places such as the Grammys. In Harry Styles’ 2021 Grammys performance, we can see that he encourages conversations through cognitive dissonance centered around ideas such as his fashion choices and song lyrics.
At the recent 2021 Grammys, Harry Styles was the opening performance. He kicked off the show by performing his hit single “Watermelon Sugar.” As the lights came up, we saw him wearing a two-piece black faux leather Gucci suit. On top of that, he wrapped a green Gucci feather boa around his neck, and, halfway through the performance, he took off his boa to reveal that he was shirtless underneath his suit jacket. According to the Vogue article “Harry Styles Opened the Grammys in a Leather Suit and No Shirt and I’m Not Well” by Michelle Ruiz (2021), Ruiz writes, “Apart from his butterfly tattoo and an assortment of other ink, Styles also wore a cross chain and, as eagle-eyed fans noted on Twitter, Gucci’s cheeky “banana dick” necklace, as one does” (para. 3). (Outfit details pictured in Figure 1.1) This rendition of the song had a jazzier tone, and he brought in Blood Orange’s bass player, Devonté Hynes, to play during the performance. In addition, during the performance, Styles added a simple yet captivating dance with his backup singers. This song, “Watermelon Sugar,” was the song that Styles would win a Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance later on in the night.
Styles’ performance ties into the audience-oriented theory of cognitive dissonance. In the text Persuasion in the Media Age by Timothy A Borchers, Borchers explains cognitive dissonance to be “[w]hen we experience inconsistency between two beliefs, we find ways to restore balance” (p. 47). Essentially, when one of our beliefs conflicts with another action or belief, we feel uncomfortable. As humans, we default to trying to avoid that discomfort, and we can do this in many ways. We can try to change one of the ideas, seek more information that affirms our beliefs, avoid information that goes against our beliefs, tell ourselves that the contrary information is not important, or use an additional cognitive element to resolve the issue between the first two. Cognitive elements can be related in one of three ways: irrelevant, consonant, or dissonant. If two ideas have an irrelevant relationship, this means that they have no effect or connection to each other. For example, someone can hold the two beliefs that dark chocolate is the best chocolate, and that Summer is the best season, but those beliefs do not affect each other. If two ideas have a consonant relationship, this means that they both relate to, or agree with, each other. For example, the two belief that climate change is a serious problem and the act of being a vegan are consonant because they support each other. Lastly, if two ideas have a dissonant relationship, this means that they clash with each other. For example, if someone believes that social media is a bad habit but then spends hours scrolling through Instagram, that belief and that action are working against each other.
In his performance at the Grammys, Harry Styles is encouraging the cognitive dissonance theory. In other words, he does not limit himself in his actions or beliefs. Most notably, he does not limit himself to only wearing traditionally masculine clothes. Styles is mostly known for his looks being colorful, patterned, or flamboyant. For example, during his 2017-2018 world tour for his debut album, he wore a different suit to each performance: the suits ranging from roses, sparkles, pink, and more. This often makes people uncomfortable because they think his fashion is not in-line with what our culture sees as masculine. For example, when Styles wore a dress on the cover of Vogue, there was a lot of pushback. In the article “Celebs defend Harry Styles After He Gets Attacked for His Vogue Cover Dress” by Curits M. Wong (2020), Wong details how Candace Owen, a right-wing writer, “argued on Twitter that Styles was indicative of the ‘steady feminization of our men,’ adding, ‘Bring back manly men’” (para. 3). In this instance, Owens is experiencing cognitive dissonance and is avoiding contrary information to relieve that sense of discomfort. She has a belief about what men should wear, and she refuses to accept information that contradicts that belief. With all of this in mind, Styles’ leather look at the Grammys was sultrier than what we are used to seeing him in, but it still aligned with his norm of pushing the fashion boundaries for men. For example, we are not accustomed to seeing men wear feather boas. This is an accessory that we saw women wearing in the early 2000s or female children wearing at tea parties. So, we have cognitive dissonance between thinking that feather boas are a woman’s accessory and then seeing a man wearing one on a popular, live televised event. Thus, this creates discomfort. This leather suit could also function to show that one person can have a wide variety of interests in different fashion styles. Styles wears a wide variety of suits, and he often plays with the shape and tailoring of them. Thus, Styles is promoting the idea that our fashion does not need to have a narrow focus. Rather, we can simply wear anything and everything that we want to put on our body.
Furthermore, Styles creates cognitive dissonance even down to the small details of his outfit such as the banana dick necklace. Styles is known for using fruits to represent different body parts, as we see in songs such as “Watermelon Sugar,” but he has also done this in photoshoots, such as with a pomegranate. This necklace could function as Styles proudly owning his own body parts, but it is also likely his way of showing what he is attracted to. This makes many people uncomfortable because they think men are supposed to be attracted to female body parts. Styles has openly said on multiple occasions that he feels no need to define or label his sexuality, which also makes many people uncomfortable. In the article “Harry Styles’s Grammy’s Performance Saluted the Many Shapes of Male Sexuality” by Olivia Ovenden (2021), Ovenden writes, “The message here, not that it’s one Styles ever feels the need to point out, is that modern masculinity should be about affording men the freedom to express themselves rather than ticking a box and being forced to stay in it” (para. 4). Our culture has a belief that we need to label each part of our identity, so we become uncomfortable when someone does not do that. In extension of this conversation, Styles also does not limit himself to only singing about his own pleasure, as we are so accustomed to seeing and hearing male artists do. Many listeners of “Watermelon Sugar” assume the lyrics to be about performing oral sex on a woman. Styles has yet to verbally confirm this, but his music video features him sitting on the beach seductively eating slices of watermelon while being surrounded by women. Most listeners of music are accustomed to hearing songs about a man’s pleasure or about men using women as sexual objects. So, when we hear a song that prioritizes the pleasure of a woman, it creates discomfort.
Overall, Styles is aware of each of these preconceived notions that we have, but he continues to engage in these behaviors because he knows that it pushes conversations forwards. With this in mind, he does successfully engage in cognitive dissonance because his goal is to make some people uncomfortable. In his Grammys performance, Styles is making it harder for audiences to avoid contrary information because he is performing on a nationally televised event. Styles is not the first male icon to do this. In the article “How Harry Styles Became 2020’s Biggest Fashion Icon” by Jacob Gallagher (2020), Gallagher writes, “‘It’s kind of like this year’s version of rock-star packaging or something,’ said Vincent Boucher, 67, a lecturer at Parsons School of Design in New York. As precursors, Mr. Boucher pointed to Kurt Cobain, Mick Jagger and David Bowie, all of whom donned dresses decades ago, nimbly crossing gender lines” (para. 4). Thus, we can see that Styles is simply trying to carry on the work of dressing in a gender-neutral way that those before him also did. With that, there are also other current icons, specifically people of color, such as Billy Porter and Lil Nas X, that are also doing work similar to Styles. In addition, it is important to note that this discomfort for some also creates comfort for others. For example, there are viewers who are comforted in knowing that they can dress how they want. In other words, Styles is purposely creating environments that foster discomfort because he knows that growth lies in discomfort.
For years, Harry Styles has been in the media’s eyes. During his time in One Direction, he was cast as the womanizer. Now as a solo artist, he is redefining who he is, and he largely showcases this through his music and his fashion choices. As aforementioned, many of us try to avoid dissonant ideas because we do not like the idea of being uncomfortable. However, Styles is forcing us to question how that discomfort can serve us in a beneficial way. We often think of cognitive dissonance as something to avoid. In other words, persuaders are giving us a pitch in order to release us from cognitive dissonance. Styles, however, persuades us to stay in that cognitive dissonance in order to learn and grow, not escape from it.
References
Borchers, T. A. (2013). Persuasion in the media age. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.
Gallagher, J. (2020, December 03). How Harry Styles became 2020’s biggest fashion icon. Retrieved April 01, 2021, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-harry-styles-became-2020s-biggest-style-icon-11606753389
Ovenden, O. (2021, March 15). Harry Styles’s Grammys performance saluted the many shapes of male sexuality. Retrieved March 31, 2021, from https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/a35836707/harry-styles-grammys-performance-2021/
Ruiz, M. (2021, March 14). Harry Styles opened the Grammys in a leather suit and no shirt and I’m not well. Vogue. Retrieved March 31, 2021, from https://www.vogue.com/article/harry-styles-grammys-performance-no-shirt-leather-suit
Wong, C. (2020, November 16). Celebs defend Harry styles after he gets attacked for HIS Vogue COVER DRESS. Retrieved March 31, 2021, from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/celebs-defend-harry-styles-vogue-cover-dress_n_5fb2deeec5b6f79d6019f4e1